Somewhere Else

No, we’re not talking about an English pub name. The painted fibreglass cow above is in a shopping centre in the town of Dunsborough. It is part of the CowParade 2010 exhibition in the Margaret River region of Western Australia. This one is called “Koombana Babe” and was painted by Bunbury Catholic College.

But when we were there last month, one of the cows wasn’t feeling well. Hopefully it’s out and about again by now:

On 29 April 1770 Captain Cook first set foot on Australian soil, when he went ashore in Botany Bay. The monument above marks the spot. It’s in Botany Bay National Park, at what is today Kurnell.

But there is an odd discrepancy in the dates. Although everyone agrees that he came ashore on the 29th, the plaque on the monument (below) claims that it was the 28th. Apparently that’s what it says in Captain Cook’s journals as well. The explanation is that in 1770 the International Date Line had not yet been defined. Consequently, the dates in his journals are one day earlier than those we use today.

The famous (or infamous) Mutiny on the Bounty occurred 221 years ago today, when the crew of the British naval ship HMS Bounty mutinied in the south Pacific on 28 April 1789. Captain William Bligh and 18 of those loyal to him were set adrift in a small boat and made an epic sea voyage to reach Timor.

That wasn’t Bligh’s only brush with rebellion. Fifteen years later he was appointed Governor of New South Wales, with orders to clear up the rum trade. But things went very wrong. Confrontation with the colonists and soldiers led to the Rum Rebellion. On 26 January 1808 Bligh was arrested by members of the mutinous New South Wales Corps, who set up a rebel government while Bligh escaped to Tasmania.

The statue of Bligh above is between Circular Quay and the Rocks in Sydney. And this plaque outside Sydney Hospital in Macquarie Street is a good reminder of how much rum meant to the early settlement:

Just along the street from the Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery that we mentioned yesterday, we noted this amusing little mosaic.

It’s apparently by the prolific French artist Invader. You can find his mosaics in many parts of the world. Last time we were in Paris (where there are about 600 of his mosaics) we saw the space invader below, on the Arago Line not far from the Observatory.

Being fans of vintage caravans, we enjoyed the current exhibition of paintings by local teacher and artist Michael O’Connell. They feature nostalgic images of beaches and family holidays, based on memories and photographs from Michael’s own childhood. The painting above is titled “Sunshiners” and features the family’s Ford Falcon station wagon and caravan.

The exhibition runs until 2 May at Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery (below) in Henry Street, Fremantle.

This old 3.7 inch anti-aircraft gun is on Buckland Hill, above the World War 2 tunnels that we described yesterday. It is part of what is known as Leighton Battery, a gun station that was opened just two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941.

There never was an attack on Fremantle, so the Leighton Battery never fired a shot in anger. Today the 3.7 inch AA gun has been decommissioned and stands as a solemn reminder of more uncertain times. Or maybe not so solemn – the local kookaburras use it as a rather unusual tree:

And earlier this month we found that someone had humorously fired the gun:

Today is Anzac Day, when Australians and New Zealanders honour their war dead and veterans. It’s a day for dawn services and military parades, and also a good day to visit a military museum.

Here in Perth, our favourite military site is the collection of World War 2 Tunnels beneath Buckland Hill, on the coast overlooking the main shipping channel into Fremantle harbour. On the hill you can see various entrances into the tunnels, which are open each Sunday:

Inside there are about 400m of tunnels, with some diorama displays showing what the observation posts were like during the war:

We often describe the rail line from Perth to Fremantle as being Perth’s largest art gallery. Along the line you can see a surprising amount of interesting art – mainly murals and sculpture. But the trick is that you can’t see most of the art from the window of a railway carriage. For that you have to be on foot, or ideally on your bicycle.

This colourfully painted pedestrian underpass is a good example of what we mean. It’s at West Leederville station. The trains go above, so passengers don’t see it. But from the bicycle path beside the rail line you get a great view of the artwork. And if you go through the underpass, it looks good from the other end as well:

April 23 is traditionally taken to be Shakespeare’s birthday. In fact we don’t know exactly when he was born, but he was baptised on 26 April 1564 so maybe he was born a few days earlier. He died on 23 April 1616, so today is also the anniversary of his death.

When we think about Shakespeare, we inevitably think of Stratford-upon-Avon where he was born. But there are other towns with a strong Shakespearean presence. Our favourite is Verona in northern Italy. That’s where Romeo and Juliet is set, and the town has many sites connected with the immortal lovers.

There are also several busts of Shakespeare, including the one above. It stands beside the city wall in Piazza Bra, near the Roman arena. Beside the statue there is a marble plaque, which appropriately quotes Romeo’s response when informed of his exile from Verona.

The coming Sunday is Anzac Day, the day when Australians and New Zealanders remember all those who have died and served in wars. So here is a mystery object with an Anzac connection. What do you think it is?

It is located in Glenbrook, a village in the Blue Mountains 66km west of Sydney. And no, it isn’t a flower box. In fact, it is … a memorial horse trough which commemorates horses that died in World War I.